LIFE ECOMETHYLAL is a project running initially from 01/09/2016 to 31/03/2021. The work plan is divided into several actions. See below the summary of the main results and degree of achievement:

RESULT 1- Status of the Project starting. As a preparatory action, an overall assessment was made, by reviewing some aspects that could have changed since this proposal was submitted to the start of project implementation, mainly related to standards and/or legislation, current thermal recovery processes for mixed plastic waste fractions and their impact in the society, specific needed permits for the construction of the plant, planning the supply of materials needed for construction of the plant.

RESULT 2- Pilot plant construction. This implementation action has been the core of the project work since the very beginning, and the one which have consumed most of the resources and expenses. This action includes an adaptation of the BPP process to the conditions and foreseen waste for the LIFE-ECOMETHYLAL project, design and building drawings of the gasification and liquid ECOMETHYLAL synthesis unit, resulting in the successful pilot plant construction by the end 2019. See pictures further below.

RESULT 3- Treatment and conditioning waste. Partners worked on the definition of the waste modifications and pre-treatment stages required, in order to achieve an adequate composition and physical characteristics for their effective transformation (methylal) in the subsequent action, involving the pilot plant optimization. Plastic waste provided by the partners was distributed in five different flows and the corresponding characterizations and technical datasheets were done. The best combinations and suitable characteristics for the potential future plastic waste streams were identified.

RESULT 4- Running optimization of the pilot plant.  The project pilot plant started to run completely after October 2019, since then its performance has been optimized at BPP facilities to be move to the real industrial environment in ACTECO and MIPLAST facilities. The composition of the different wastes has been analysed and different plastic waste origins have been introduced as raw materials. The security, efficiency and quality of the final ecomethylal plant has been ensured in the two industrial locations in which the plant has been transported.

RESULT 5- Characterization of the methylal obtained. During November, the plant was operated in Croatia - MIPLAST, the plant proper work was ensured with the technical team of BPP that travelled to MIPLAST to optimise the pilot plant efficiency. A workshop was arranged in at the end of November to introduce the project and present the results. The plant is close to achieve the treatment of 1 ton of waste among the three different locations.

RESULT 6- Life Cycle Assessment. The monitoring of the environmental aspects (apart from the economic and social ones) is one of the key project points. This is an ongoing task until the project end, we are currently starting to obtain the first LCA results after collecting the necessary information at the different pilot plant locations, BPP, ACTECO & MIPLAST, during this month the final analysis will be obtained

RESULT 7- Replicability in Croatia. During November, the plant was operated in Croatia - MIPLAST, the plant proper work was ensured with the technical team of BPP that travelled to MIPLAST to optimise the pilot plant efficiency. A workshop was arranged in at the end of November to introduce the project and present the results. The plant is close to achieve the treatment of 1 ton of waste among the three different locations.

RESULT 8- Transferability Plan to Stakeholders. The LIFE ECOMETHYLAL consortium has been working since the very beginning to spread the project objectives & progress of the results to as many stakeholders as possible, making relevant contacts with potential external stakeholders (both at public & private level). In section PROJECT ACTIVITIES- STAKEHOLDERS of website, you will find the non-confidential list of them, gathered so far (and those who are officially invited to take part in ACTECO´s and MIPLAST workshops, face-to -face or streaming).

RESULT 9- Dissemination Plan. Partners have been active in all the Communication & Dissemination (C&D) activities and Public awareness. In PROJECT ACTIVITIES- ACTIVITIES of website, you will find an example of the set of actions carried out to promote mainly the project objectives. A wide range of usual C&D activities have been implemented, from technical articles, attendance in trade fairs, through workshops and conferences, the participation in events has been reduced due to the pandemic situation that decrease the number of organised events. It is planned to prepare a technical publication with the barriers and positioning for the market, to reinforce these actions, two versions of the layman report will be prepared one oriented to stakeholders in general and another for the public administrations and policy makers, including the social and environmental benefits of the project and chemical recycling in general. 

Two workshops have been prepared with more than 150 attendees presently or on-line, they expressed their interest in the project development.

RESULT 10- Business Plan. LIFE ECOMETHYLAL seeks for a viable business model for partners involved and the future potential stakeholders. The consortium is convinced that it will contribute to implement and spread the project´s environmental benefits, new technology and LIFE-ECOMETHYLAL plastic waste management solution, all around EU. The preliminary basis for a future Business Plan and Commercial Strategy among the consortium members have already been defined, the scope and main technology exploration pathway, mainly focussed in Spain and Portugal.

One of the main project actions is the public awareness about the repercussion of this type of plants and their usefulness to the Public Administration, policy makers and the European Commission. 

As part of the project contribution to the framework of the circular economy aligned with the plastics sector, we would kindly ask you to complete a questionnaire about you perception of these disruptive technologies. 

Please fill in less than 5 minutes, the following questionnaire:  

https://life-ecomethylal.eu/survey.php

After the feedback, the questionnaires received will be analysed and the conclusions will be published on the project website.

MI-PLAST PRESENTS THE LIFE ECOMETHYLAL PILOT PLANT A LIFE program project, LIFE ECOMETHYLAL is a 5-year long project that uses the weaknesses of modern times and transforms them in a new kind of benefit. The plastic waste that our society is creating daily, becomes a non-solvable problem for decades. For the purpose of offering a new approach, 5 partners (Aimplas, Acteco, Airesa and Blue Plasma power from Spain, and Mi-plast from Croatia) have worked together to promote the new kind of technology used by the pilot plant, created and patented by the Blue Plasma Power. The pilot plant, treating non-recyclable plastic waste and producing methylal, an industrial solvent used in chemical industry, was already presented in a workshop in ACTECO in September 2020.